Bhavin Shukla

I would like to tell the story of two such incidents in my life because my life’s trajectory would not have changed without the gratitude I received from the people.

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Accident: Lives on the Line

I was working for a major IT firm in Mumbai, known as Mastek Ltd. Each morning, I’d board the company bus at around 7:30, joining my friends/ colleagues for the daily commute along the Eastern Express Highway. This road, for daily commuters like us heading to our Andheri office, was often choked with traffic.

One day, as our bus moved at a normal speed, we saw a horrible accident. A man and his 8-9 year old son were lying on the road next to their motorcycle. It seemed that they were hit by some vehicle from the rear side of the vehicle. They were clearly in a bad state and lying there without receiving any help. None of the traffic around them, including our bus, stopped.

Spotting a police station about a kilometer past the accident scene, I decided to do something. I mentioned to the driver of our company bus to stop and suggested to return to the accident scene. But the driver and the bus co-ordinator were reluctant. I got off the bus, let the bus go, and ran towards the police station to report the accident. After informing police and instead of waiting for them to take further action, I took a rickshaw and asked the rickshaw-driver to take me to the scene.

When we arrived ten minutes later, shockingly the victims were still lying unattended on the road divider in a pool of blood. To get them to a hospital, I convinced the auto (rickshaw) driver to help, offering my gold necklace as reassurance and bribe. The auto driver was hesitant as they can be in trouble if a person loses his/her life during travel. There have been many cases in India, where the police hassles people to get bribe and hence no one stops by especially if the injury is bad. I must say that this was the situation in 2004, from recent stories it seems that situation is different and the police recognises good samaritans.

Just as I and the rickshaw driver were trying to lift the unconscious father, the police arrived. They quickly transferred him via a stretcher into their van. Before losing consciousness, the injured boy was able to give me some crucial information in our shared language, Gujarati.

With lights flashing, we rushed to Bhagwati hospital in Borivali, arriving in the police van in just seven minutes. As the only person present who knew the victims, I found myself acting as their guardian, signing off on their admission forms. The father required immediate surgery, but thankfully, the son’s injuries were less severe.

Based on the details that the child provided to me, I was able to trace and reach out to their family members. Please note that these were the days when not everyone had mobiles. I somehow managed to get all this done via STD/PCO telephone booths.

Once their family arrived at the hospital, the police kindly dropped me off at my office in Andheri. My colleagues, worried after hearing that I’d gotten off the bus mid-journey, were relieved when they learned what happened. The story was later shared by Mastek Ltd on their intranet, and I was heartened by the warm response from my team. I have attached images of some of the appreciation notes.

Years later, I visited the family. I came to know from them that the father had spent months in a coma but had ultimately survived. It was a sobering reminder of the difference a single decision can make. That day, I didn’t just save a man’s life – I helped prevent a tragedy that would have devastated an entire family for many many years.

In return, I received blessings straight from the heart from the family, which changed my life for good.

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Miscarriage: Against the Odds

One cold, dark night in January 2020, after a family dinner in one of the Leicester restaurants, I noticed something unusual while driving home with my wife and younger daughter. There was a car parked on the side of the road, and from the corner of my eye, I thought I saw someone resting their head on the steering wheel.

Concerned, I stopped my car and walked back to check. I couldn’t see the driver due to the mist on the car windows, I knocked on the passenger side to see if everything was okay. After a few tries and no response, I knocked harder, and finally, the person inside unlocked the door.

I started asking some general questions to the lady at the wheel to assess the situation, and she assumed that I was a doctor. She then moved a scarf from her lap and I was shocked to see blood. There was blood everywhere below her waist. Without wasting time, I called an ambulance and tried to keep her engaged in conversation.

During our conversation, I realised that she was a Muslim lady, and I wondered if my questions would be termed inappropriate and crossing cultural boundaries. But she quickly put my worries at ease when she called me “bhai” (brother) and told me that she had suffered a miscarriage while driving.

With reassurances that help was on the way, I ran back to my car to get my wife. She stayed with the lady until the ambulance arrived. We managed to get in touch with her husband, accompanied them, and made sure they got to the hospital.

A few days later, we received a message of gratitude from the lady. She told us that the doctors had said she would not have survived that cold night in the car if she had lost any more blood. It was a humbling reminder of how a simple awareness and consciousness can have a significant impact on others’ lives.

With the blessings received from the lady, my life took another positive turn in the coming days.

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Right Time, Right Place:

I can only express my gratitude and thank my parents, teachers, friends, well-wishers, colleagues, and everyone I’ve crossed paths with, for showing me the difference between right and wrong, known as Vivek in Sanskrit, it must be them who taught me to be kind, because Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit i.e., “nothing can come from nothing“.

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Note: The above article is an excerpt from Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit ☯️.

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